A series of bizarre patterns carved into the uplands of north Wales have been stirring excitement among conspiracy theorists. These cryptic designs, which bear a resemblance to abstract symbols, were discovered etched into the Hiraethog moors along the border between Conwy and Denbighshire.
The curious markings are only visible from above and were first noticed by motor-glider pilot Simon Grice as he returned from a flight over Yr Wyddfa to his base airfield in Denbighshire. Situated near the remnants of Gwylfa Hiraethog, close to the former Sportsmans Arms, which was once the highest pub in Wales, Simon initially mistook them for a large-scale art installation.
However, after Simon posted a photograph of the geoglyphs online, comparisons were drawn with the Nazca lines, the extensive collection of lines, geometric figures, and animal depictions found in southern Peru. Theories about their origin ranged from wind turbine construction routes to the handiwork of inebriated farmers.
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Inevitably, some suggested extra-terrestrial involvement, with one woman saying: “One word,” her tongue firmly in cheek, “Aliens!”. Simon, aged 54 and hailing from Llanferres, is a regular in the skies of north Wales, piloting his T61 Venture motorglider from Lleweni Parc Airfield near Denbigh.
He’s looking forward to co-piloting an aircraft next month on a pioneering journey around Britain powered solely by the elements, reports North Wales Live. Reflecting on his recent aerial adventure, he said: “I’d just been on the flight of my life over Yr Wyddfa.
“For the return leg I decided to go back via Brenig reservoir. Glider pilots are always looking down. It’s a safety thing they’re looking for fields in case they need to land. As you’re flying at 1,500ft and going at just 60mph much lower and slower than most other aircraft field-spotting is much easier.
“Flying northwest of Brenig, I saw these patterns. I’m used to seeing shapes cut into the moors, which are clearly man-made and functional. These were entirely different: they looked like an attempt to create something artistic.
“I imagine they are hard to discern on the ground. As they have been created on a high point on the moors, there’s no vantage point to look down on them, so really they can only be seen from the air. They may have been there for a while and no one has noticed them.”
Simon is an entrepreneur with a variety of business interests. As CEO of AI firm Joggle, he used AI to investigate the strange Hiraethog patterns. A response from the Claude AI assistant was emphatic, it said it was an art installation by Gerry Judah, a landscape artist based in London who has “created several notable pieces in Wales”.
The work, described by Claude AI, was part of a collection named ‘The Sung Hills’, in partnership with the Welsh National Opera. It said: “The installation represents musical notation on a grand scale, transforming the landscape into a visual representation of Welsh folk music.”
However, a search through Google yields no results for an artwork titled ‘The Sung Hills’ or any collaboration with the WNO. Simon reached out to Gerry Judah, who confirmed he was not involved. Returning to square one, Simon turned to social media for ideas. The range of responses was broad. For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter.
He shared: “Some said it was done by Banksy or drunk farmers, others that it was Welsh Government road planning. A few said it was Photoshopped – it wasn’t!”. Online commentators joked about alien crop circles or “signalling to the mothership”. Jeremy Clarkson was blamed by some, as were the often-criticised Evri drivers.
One individual even connected it to a 13th-century pilgrimage to Jerusalem by a French rabbi. More earnest theories included fracking, as the patterns mirrored the natural gas fields in Wyoming, USA. Yet, fracking is not permitted in Wales.
Typically, these shapes are carved into heather to promote a mix of new and old growth, creating perfect environments for ground-nesting birds like grouse, which require open feeding areas but also cover to evade predators.
Heather-cutting is a common sight across north Wales and beyond, with the usual patterns being rectangular strips, squares and occasionally circles. These shapes can be seen underlying the intricate Hiraethog patterns captured by Simon, indicating where the heather was cut in previous years.
However, a graduate from Wrexham University has suggested that the Hirathog cuttings are designed for black grouse. She claimed that the connecting lines serve as pathways for the birds, whose numbers are beginning to recover due to conservation management on the moors.
“My son has been working on it,” she shared online. “The heather was too dense with nowhere for them to display and attract a mate. The pathways join up the cleared sections for displaying which are called ‘leks’. They have a complex system of pathways. Leks which have mostly disappeared over the last 40 years, so they’re being reintroduced by us to help increase the population.”
This claim left some people puzzled, given the complexity of the patterns created. However, Natural Resources Wales seems fairly confident this is the reason. The environmental body works alongside landowners and tenants of Mynydd Hiraethog Site of Special Scientific Interest to manage and improve the condition of its upland habitats.
A spokesperson explained: “This benefits species such as black grouse and the range of birds of prey that depend on this special site to forage and breed. Cutting the heather moorland on a rotation over a number of years creates a patchwork of heather at different growth stages.
“The variation suits different species at various stages of their life cycle. Cutting paths through the tall heather also helps with access to the site to deal with any accidental fires. Whether the cuts are regular in shape or not, they are still effective.”
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